Ways to fund it
Five ways to pay for clean power. Compare them, then choose.
A solar panel, a battery or a wind turbine has to be paid for by somebody. This page explains, in plain words, the five ways we are building to do it — a green-bond note, crypto capital financing, selling a tax credit, Energy as a Service, and Energy as a Service funded together with a partner — and how two small chips let a stranger anywhere in the world check that the power is real.
The five paths
Who pays, who gets paid, and what proves it.
Every path rests on the same thing: a signed record of how much power the equipment really made. What changes is who puts the money in and how they get it back.
1 · Green-bond note
Investors lend; the power repays.
Many small systems are pooled into one note. The contracted power they sell pays the interest. A site is admitted only once its output is under a power purchase agreement of ten years or more.
Best when the power is sold under a long contract at a fair price.
2 · Crypto capital financing
Funders anywhere pay for the equipment.
Someone in any country pays for the equipment using a digital dollar (a “stablecoin”). The money waits with a licensed custodian and is released to the installer in steps as the work is proven. Afterwards the funder earns a share of the power’s income, up to an agreed limit.
Best when local lenders are scarce and a funder wants income tied to real, checkable kilowatt-hours.
3 · Tax-credit transfer
Sell the credit; lower the price.
Where a government gives a clean-energy tax credit that can be sold, the owner sells it for cash and the system costs less to buy. It works alongside any other path.
Best when a sellable credit exists where the system is built (today, mainly the United States).
4 · Energy as a Service
Nothing up front; one fixed monthly fee.
A provider pays for the equipment, installation and insurance, keeps it running, and you pay one fixed fee. Read the full explanation and run your numbers.
Best when power is expensive today, such as replacing diesel.
5 · Partner-financed Energy as a Service
ANEW and a funding partner pay for everything.
Same one-fee service for the customer. Behind it, ANEW and a funding partner together pay for the equipment, the installation, the insurance and the service, and earn their return from the fee.
Best when the customer has no capital and no appetite for debt, and a partner wants a steady return.
Choosing is a decision made after the options are compared. The simulator below shows all five side by side for the same system.
Why a stranger can trust the number
Two small chips, two witnesses.
Money moves on one fact: how many kilowatt-hours were really made. So we make that fact hard to fake, using a hardware fingerprint called a PUF.
The fingerprint
A chip that cannot be copied.
A PUF (physically unclonable function) is a unique pattern that comes from tiny natural differences in a chip as it is made — like a fingerprint. Two chips never match, and copying one is not practical.
Witness one
The meter chip.
The chip beside the meter signs each 15-minute summary of the power made — a digital signature that only that chip can produce.
Witness two
The communications chip.
The communications board checks the meter’s signature, adds the time, and countersigns before it sends the record on. Every record is also linked to the one before it, like pages numbered in a book.
The clerk
The cloud checks both.
The back end checks both signatures, and that these two chips were paired at the factory for this equipment. If anything does not match, the reading is not paid on.
What this stops
- A made-up reading. The communications board cannot invent numbers, because it cannot sign for the meter.
- A swapped meter. A replacement board that is not the paired one is refused until a technician re-binds it with a signed service order.
- A copied board. A clone with the same label but not the same secret fails the check.
- A replayed record. The same signed summary cannot be counted twice.
- The same equipment financed twice. Every panel, battery or distribution point gets one identity, so a second sale of the same asset is refused.
What it cannot do — honestly
- A chip proves which chip vouched, not that the wiring is honest. Someone could run a wire around the meter. So we add tamper seals, an open-case switch, and cloud checks that compare power in against power out.
- It proves a device, not a person. People and companies are checked separately by an identity provider.
- It is “tamper-evident”, not “tamper-proof”.
Where this stands — October 2026
The signing and checking rules run today in our software test rig (46 automated tests pass). The first factory-made boards are being bench-tested; they carry a clearly labelled software stand-in for the chip, and every screen says so. The real chips — and the supplier — are settled in the next board version, after the bench tests. Nothing on this page is a product you can buy yet.
Crypto, in plain words
A payment rail, not a coin to buy.
Here crypto is used the way a bank wire is used: to move money between people who do not share a country or a bank. We are not selling a token, and ANEW does not hold anyone’s money.
Step 1
Funder is identity-checked.
A third-party provider verifies who the funder is. The check is theirs; we record only the result.
Step 2
Money goes to a vault.
The funder’s payment is held by a licensed custodian or escrow agent — the “vault”. It is not ANEW’s money and cannot be spent on a whim.
Step 3
Released in steps.
Installers are paid in stages — on order, on installation, on commissioning — and the last stage is released only when the equipment is sending signed, checkable readings.
Step 4
Income follows the kilowatt-hours.
The funder earns a share of the income from verified power, up to an agreed limit. Weak sun means weaker income; there is no fixed coupon.
How a crypto or data-centre business could take part
- As a funder, earning income tied to real power.
- To match its own electricity use. Signed kilowatt-hours made can be counted against the power a business uses, and the matching certificate is retired so it cannot be sold twice. This is accounting, not a wire from the panel to the machine — unless they sit on the same site.
- As a flexible buyer. Some machines can switch off in seconds, so they can soak up surplus midday power that a grid cannot use.
Things that decide whether it can happen
- The rules in each country: whether crypto is allowed, who may take funders’ money, and what such an arrangement counts as. In many places a revenue share of this kind may be treated as a security.
- Exchange rates: revenue arrives in local money; the funder pays in digital dollars.
- Whether the local utility or registry accepts our meter reading for settlement.
Tax credits, in plain words
A discount you can sell for cash.
Some governments give a tax credit for building clean power. If the owner has no tax to reduce, the credit can sometimes be sold to a company that does. The buyer pays cash now; the owner pays less for the system.
What proves it
Proof the system runs.
A buyer wants evidence that the equipment was really installed and really produces. Our signed record supplies both. Some credits pay per kilowatt-hour made, so a trustworthy count is worth money.
How the vault helps
Pay against milestones.
The buyer’s payment can be held and released against milestones, with part held back in case a credit is later reduced.
Who buys
Companies with tax to pay.
Profitable businesses in many industries, including some in crypto and technology.
Read this before relying on it. Tax-credit rules change and differ by country. Selling a credit is a contract, not something traded on an exchange, and in the United States the rules as we understand them require the buyer to pay in cash — whether a digital dollar counts is a question for a tax professional. The rates and prices in the simulator are placeholders you can change. ANEW gives no tax advice.
Compare them
The same system, five ways to pay.
Change any number. Every figure is a placeholder, not a quote. The results are meant to be honest — in our own test runs, most ordinary homes do not earn enough to repay a note, and the numbers work best where power is expensive today.
Simulation. Illustrative placeholders, not a quote, forecast, offer or advice. No securities or tokens are sold and no money moves. The tax-credit rate and price are placeholders: eligibility and timing must be confirmed by a tax professional.
Anywhere in the world
The chips work everywhere. The rules change by country.
The device and the checking rules are the same in every country. What differs is who may sell power, which incentive exists, whether crypto is allowed, who may hold funders’ money, and which currency the power is paid in. So each country gets its own rule pack, checked by a local professional before it is used. The world table shows the first of those questions for thirty places.
| Kind of place | What usually fits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Open market e.g. Texas, Great Britain | Power purchase agreements, a note, crypto capital financing and Energy as a Service are all plausible. Certificates and credits can be traded. | Prices swing with the market. Who may take funders’ money still depends on local law. |
| Regulated export e.g. Colorado, California, India | The utility pays a set rate, so a note is hard to repay. Energy as a Service and tax credits or incentives usually matter more. | Rates get reset by the regulator. Export limits can apply. |
| Single buyer e.g. Costa Rica, Honduras, Dubai | Only the utility buys. A pooled basket of tariff credits with a local partner, and savings on the bill. | Crypto rules vary. Large plants sell only to the state utility. |
| Emerging e.g. Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam | Replacing diesel is where the numbers work. Funders abroad and mobile-money payments can matter more than digital dollars. | Currency swings. Rules are still being written. |
Questions people ask
Is this a cryptocurrency I can buy?
No. Crypto here is only a way to move money between countries. ANEW is not selling a coin or a token.
Who holds the money?
A licensed custodian or escrow agent, not ANEW. That arrangement is still being designed with legal advisers, and it will differ by country.
Is this an investment offer?
No. This page is an explanation and a simulator. Nothing here is an offer of securities, financing, tokens or advice. Any real arrangement would be made through licensed parties, where the law allows it.
Are the chips already in the equipment?
Not yet. The first boards are being tested with a labelled software stand-in. The real chips are planned for the next board version, after those tests.
Can the chips be fooled?
A chip proves which chip vouched, not that the wiring is honest. That is why we add seals, an open-case switch and cross-checks between power in and power out. We call the result tamper-evident, not tamper-proof.
Are tax credits guaranteed?
No. They depend on the law where the system is built, which changes, and on the buyer’s tax position. Ask a tax professional.
Is ANEW certified as a climate bond?
ANEW is registered with the Climate Bonds Initiative and is working toward certification. It is not certified.
Start with your site.
Tell us where the system will be and how big it is. We will say honestly which of these paths fits, and which do not.
Simulation and explanation only. Not an offer of securities, financing, tokens, tax or legal advice. Availability, terms and rules are set per project and per country.